cookie jar reserve
- noun
- Specialized
- The company dipped into their cookie jar reserve to make their quarterly results look better.
Examples
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Analysts warned that the firm's strong profits might be due to manipulation through a cookie jar reserve.
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Regulators have cracked down on the use of cookie jar reserves in recent years.
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The company created a cookie jar reserve to manage its earnings.
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Many firms use cookie jar reserves to smooth out their financial reports.
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The company dipped into their cookie jar reserve to boost their quarterly profits without raising any eyebrows.
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Regulators have cracked down on the use of cookie jar reserves to prevent companies from misrepresenting their financial health.
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Analysts warned that manipulating earnings reports through a cookie jar reserve could lead to significant legal repercussions.
Synonyms
A hidden store of money or things kept for later
Hidden money kept to pay bribes or buy favors
An amount of money or assets a company does not show in its accounts
How Concealed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components give partial clues: 'jar' (a container) + 'reserve' (a stored quantity) could lead a learner to infer some kind of 'stashed' supply, and 'cookie' suggests something hidden or tempting. However, mapping that to a corporate practice of secretly holding money to 'smooth' earnings is a figurative, domain-specific extension that a B1 learner who only knows the literal words is unlikely to predict fully.
Etymology
The term cookie jar reserve comes from the image of a cookie jar kept for later and reserve means saved money. Companies may 'dip into' that secret jar to 'smooth' their earnings, so today the phrase means money hidden to make results look better.